The starters are gamers lately - Gonzo and Hammel with sub-par stuff the last two starts, but both gutted it out for 5-6 innings and gave their team the chance to win the game. If they can actually start to get some reliable starting pitching, they should get hot.

And if they get rid of Strop. No command whatsoever. I also rarely second-guess Buck, but that move was baffling - let Strop face the lefty Gonzalez, and then bring Matusz in to face the next hitter in Ethier? I don't get it.

Strop cannot be counted on in close games though. His issues from the end of last season have not resolved themselves. He still hasn't learned how to "pitch".

O's have won 103 consecutive games when leading after 7...and yet have lost a handful of games in that span when leading after 8.

Though it's hard to pin a loss on one or two players, I place this loss on Gonzalez and Strop. Gonzo was great through 5 and completely fell apart in the 6th with a 5 run lead. Couldn't hit the strikezone, and the rare times he did, he was grooving it. And I'm curious to see how long Buck will continue to throw Strop out there in close games/high-pressure situations. He's terrible. Absolutely terrible. Million dollar arm, ten-cent head, as they say.

It's hard to fault Matusz in this one - that pitch Cespedes hit out was ridiculous. 6 inches off the ground and he just pulled out the nine iron and bashed the crap out of it. Great piece of hitting.

At least they're getting this West swing out of the way while the A's, Mariners and Angels aren't playing great baseball.

I don't really place the blame on Gonzalez, I put it on Showalter. It only took about 2 hitters in the 6th until it was obvious that Gonzalez's arm was done, he had reduced control and no stuff. He should never have had the opportunity to be the loser in the game (I know he wasn't, but he could have been when he left). The fact that he got to face a 4th hitter surprised me, 5th shocked me, and then he gets the opportunity to walk the 6th guy up in the inning and give up his 3rd double of the inning to the 7th, at this point having let 6 men on while recording only 1 out on a hard groundball, before being told to intentionally walk the 8th hitter of the inning before finally being lifted.

That's totally unjustifiable. I realize that Showalter has been part of turning the organization around, and I'm not saying he should be fired, but more and more often he seems to be totally ignoring what's happening on the field. This came one day after an AL pitcher was allowed to bat before being lifted without facing another hitter. I don't care if it is 2 down and nobody on, you have 3 backup OF/1B on the bench, none of them are potential defensive replacements, and it's the bottom of the 7th. It is absolutely ridiculous that Tillman had to swing the bat (ok, technically speaking he didn't swing the bat, just stood there and looked at 3 strikes). Somebody needs to remind Buck that he's got work to do during the game. And if he can't keep himself awake, move him into the front office and find somebody that can.

If Showalter has a flaw, it's his loyalty to his players in game situations. To his credit, he usually figures it out - it just takes way longer than it should (Gregg 2 years ago, Strop last year, etc.)

I just saw a stat that 50% of Gonzalez's runs this season have come in the 6th inning. A good chunk was yesterday, but clearly he doesn't have the stamina right now to get past 5.

Someone needs to grow some balls and put Jones in his place. Because he tries hard and has talent, he seems to be given a free pass for his bonehead plays. That's the third time this year he's taken a terrible route to a ball and ended up trying to reach back behind his head to make the catch, only to have the ball bounce off/out of his glove.

His plate discipline is infuriating too. You can tell he's adapted to that outside breaking pitch - he's always leaning in and looking for it now. The problem is that he still flails at it anyway. Here's a thought Adam - if you know the pitch is going out there, how about you let it go for a ball instead of trying to prove you're good enough to hit it?

Jones is a really good ballplayer. He could be one of the best in the league if he had a mature head on his shoulders.